New Generation
by BehindTheWallOfSleep
Summary: This story serves as a sequel to my story "We Will Burn the Sky", but it takes place in the future, and it does feature some new characters. Dil will be a central character, but he will not be the sole focus. In many respects, his daughter, Blaer, will be a major focus.
1. Introductions

**Author's Note:** Greetings, everyone! This story serves as a sequel to my previous story, _We Will Burn the Sky_. This story moves further into the future, so is features some brand new characters, but it does have many of the characters that my readers will be already familiar with. Dil is prominent here, but he does take a little bit of a 'secondary role'. One important point that I wanted to mention to my readers, because we are going so much further into the future, it is hard to say, if what I have written will truly reflect reality. Like my previous stories, I once again decided to title this one after a Scorpions song. As always, I enjoy critical reviews.

**New Generation**

**Chapter I**

"Congratulations!" said those present at the Java Lava, when Ian Pickles and Austra Adams entered in their caps and gowns.

The date was the 26th of May 2029—the day of Ian's and Austra's high school graduation. With them were their family members and siblings. As Angelica Pickles prepared to order herself a smoothie, her cell phone rang. Her Caller ID revealed that the number belonged to her childhood friend, Susie Carmichael. "Hey, there!"

"Hey, Angelica! How was the ceremony?"

"It was all right. Ian looked so handsome in his cap and gown, and Austra was such a pretty girl as well."

Susie chuckled. "Hard to believe that little Ian's a high school graduate."

Angelica smiled. "Yeah, as he was walking up to receive his diploma, all I could do was think back. I thought back to the day he was born; I thought back to how he used to toddle around my former apartment; and I thought back to his first day of school."

"You're going to be doing that two more times, Angelica. You've got Cody and Candance."

Angelica smirked. "That's true."

"How are those two doing?"

"Pretty good—Cody's going to be starting the eighth grade in the fall, and Candance will be entering the sixth."

"Sounds good, Angelica. Well, I need to go. I just wanted to give my congrats to Ian and Austra."

"Okay, thanks, Susie."

* * *

Life on Mother Terra is never static. The clock has continued to 'tick on' the group of childhood friends from Missouri, California. Many of those friends were now married and had a brood. Of the children produced from a union, some of them are known already.

The first of these children was the 18 year-old blonde haired and blue eyed Ian Louis Pickles, the son of Angelica Pickles-Adams and an unseen father. Angelica informed Ian that he had met his biological father before, but Ian could not recall the meeting. Ian's biological father, however, did not matter to him. For Ian, Johnny Adams was his father, and indeed, after Johnny married Ian's mother, he adopted Ian as his own. But as for his own life, Ian was uncertain what to do with himself.

After Ian would come the girl who was his adopted sister, the 18 year-old auburn haired and blue eyed Austra Brooke Adams, the daughter of Johnny Adams and his then girlfriend, Ann. Unlike Ian, Angelica did not adopt Austra as her own, because Austra's mother was still very active in her life—yet, Angelica was very fond of her stepdaughter. Ever since she was a little girl, Austra had a temperament for helping others. In high school, Austra decided that wanted to become a Social Work counselor, and through hard work, she received a scholarship to the University of California's campus at Berkeley.

Next on the list was the 15 year-old red haired and brown eyed Kirkley Andrew Finster, the son of Chuckie and Ashley Finster, who went by the name 'Kirk'. Like his father, Kirk often assisted his grandparents in the running of the Java Lava, and the money that he received was often used to buy either a video game or a role-playing game accessory.

Finally, there was the strawberry blonde haired and brown eyed 14 year-old Blaer Trixie Pickles, the daughter of Dil and Dezirae Pickles. Like Ian, Blaer had never really known one of her biological parents—in this case, her mother. A tragic accident took Dezirae away from Blaer, shortly after Blaer's first birthday. But when Blaer's father, Dil, married Lil DeVille, Lil adopted Blaer as her own. Blaer attended a Catholic school, where she was a cheerleader during the fall and winter months of school. Yet, with her eighth grade year coming to a close, Blaer was pondering her future academic life.

Ian, Austra, Kirk, and Blaer were the 'known children', but they were not the only children to be found. Ian, Austra, Kirk, and Blaer now had brothers, sisters, and cousins.

The union of Johnny and Angelica Adams produced two children. These eldest of these children was Cody Gage Adams. Like his older brother, Ian, the 13 year-old Cody inherited his mother's blonde hair and blue eyes; yet, Cody's hair had a darker shade of blonde, than his older brother. Cody also inherited his father's love of hard rock and metal music—he often wore shirts of various metal bands.

After Cody, came his 11 year-old sister, Candance Marie Adams. Candance inherited a combination of her parents' features. Candance had the dark hair and eyes of her father and the nose of her mother. Candance loved to play volleyball and swim. She was also very influenced by her older sister, Austra. Austra encouraged Candance to stand up for herself, but also for Candance to look out for those, who may not be as strong willed as she happened to be.

The union of Chuckie and Ashley Finster also produced another child—the 12 year-old Cynthia Nichole Finster. Cynthia had strawberry blonde hair with the brown eyes of her mother and the freckles of her father. Cynthia was a pretty girl, but she was also a shy girl. Those around Cynthia that could sense her shyness—particularly her father—were always encouraging her not to be afraid.

Like Kirk, Blaer was not an only child. The union of Dil and Lil produced two sons. The eldest of these sons was the 12 year-old blonde hair and blue eyed Xavier Dylan Pickles. Xavier had an interest in the arts—he loved to write, and he would sometimes share his artistic ideas with his father and uncle.

Following Xavier was his younger brother—the 10 year-old brown hair and brown eyed Saber Howard Pickles. Saber had an eccentric personality; he had longer hair, than most children his age; and he loved his father's hard rock and metal music. In many respects, Saber was like his father as a child.

Blaer, Xavier, and Saber were not the only grandchildren of Stu and Didi Pickles. The marriage of Tommy and Kimi Pickles produced children of their own—a son and daughter. The eldest of these children was the 12 year-old Justin Thomas Pickles. Justin Pickles, who often went by his initials 'J.T.', inherited the dark eyes and hair of his mother, but the shape of his eyes came from his father—along with his chin and nose. J.T. had an interest in sports—particularly basketball.

After J.T., came his little sister—the 11 year-old Krystal Diane Pickles. Krystal's features were always an amusement to her parents. Krystal's eyes had an oriental shape to them, but they were green. She also had red hair and freckles. Tommy would often joke that his European blood overpowered Kimi's Japanese blood, when they produced their daughter. Krystal had an interest in cultures—particularly her mother's Japanese culture.

Finally, Xavier and Saber were not the only biological grandchildren of Howard and Betty DeVille. The union of Phil and Rachel DeVille produced two daughters. The eldest of these daughters was the 12 year-old blonde hair and green eyed Elisha Dezirae DeVille. Elisha's middle name was one that Rachel asked Dil, if he would mind. Rachel was a close friend of Dezirae's, but she also knew how much Dil suffered from Dezirae's passing. Dil, however, told Rachel that he would be fine with her giving the name 'Dezirae' as her daughter's middle name. Elisha would occasionally display behavior that would make one think she was a 'brat' or a 'valley girl'—something that her friends would tease her about.

Following Elisha, was her 10 year-old sister—the brown haired and blue eyed Anastasia Jill DeVille. Anastasia had a close relationship to her aunt, Lil, and her cousin, Saber. Unlike her older sister, Anastasia was something of a 'tom boy'.

* * *

"Isn't Ian so cute?" giggled Elisha.

Cynthia blushed. "Yeah. Yeah, he is."

Ian, unaware that he was part of any conversation, removed his cap, and asked for a smoothie.

"Here you go, Ian," Betty said, while she handed him a smoothie.

"Thanks, Aunt Betty."

Betty smiled. She was still 'Aunt Betty' to many of the younger children, who were now becoming young adults. "You're welcome, Ian…It's kind of hard to believe."

"Believe what?"

"That Angelica's little boy is a high school graduate. It just seems like yesterday that he was the little boy in the photograph over there," Betty said with a gesture.

Betty's gesture was to a photograph that contained an image of Ian from when he was about two-years-old taken inside the Java Lava.

Ian smirked. "You do realize that 'Angelica's little boy' is now Cody."

Betty laughed. "Ah, but you were the first for all of us. Do you realize that I took that photograph of you?"

"Really?"

Betty nodded. "Yep, but it took a while to get you to pose and smile." Betty sighed. "You know, it might seem hard for you to believe this, Ian, but when you get older, 16 years ago seems like it was yesterday…So does really any day for that matter."

Ian smiled. "I can imagine." Ian paused to have a drink of his smoothie. "The fact that you told me that story somehow makes me think that I can remember it."

"Really?!"

Ian nodded. "Yeah. Didn't Mom give me a cookie or something?"

Betty laughed. "Yeah, I think that she did."

Ian smiled.

Betty returned the smile. "So, are you ready for the Navy?"

"I think so. Mom seemed to be a little worried about me joining, but Dad told her that I'll be all right."

"Yeah, you'll be fine."

Ian nodded. "I just don't know what to do with my life, so I thought that the Navy might help me."

Betty smiled, but as she did so, she caught a glimpse of her granddaughter on her cell phone. "Since we were talking about photographs earlier, I think that my granddaughter would like one of you."

Ian turned, and when he spotted Elisha, he smiled. "Hey, Elisha."

Elisha blushed. "Hi, Ian."

"Would you like to take a picture of me to commemorate this day?"

"Uh, sure."

Ian smiled, and Elisha took a picture of him on her cell phone.

"Thanks, Elisha. Please forward that pic to me."

"Okay."

Ian grabbed his smoothie, and left to talk with the other guests at the Java Lava.

Elisha giggled, while she showed the picture that she had recently taken to Cynthia. "Doesn't he have some the prettiest blue eyes?"

"That he does. Although…"

"Although what?"

"Although…your cousin, Xavier, has some pretty blue eyes as well."

"Xavier?! What in the world could you see in him?"

Cynthia did not have a chance to answer Elisha's question. Instead, Elisha's little sister, Anastasia, possibly answered it for her with a question. "Maybe it's because he's an artist and not some dumb jock."

"Excuse me! What do you know about boys, Stasia?"

Anastasia smirked. "I know the interesting ones from the boring ones."

Elisha shrugged.

And Cynthia chuckled.

"'Valley girl, she's a valley girl!'" Anastasia sang with a grin.

"Shut up!" exclaimed Elisha. "I hate that damn song!"

Anastasia giggled. "Oh, all right. But what is with all this talk about Ian? What about J.T.?"

Elisha gave Anastasia a look. "What about J.T.?"

Anastasia grinned. "You like him, don't you?"

"No!" responded Elisha, while her face turned red.

"You have a crush a 'dumb jock'. Don't you, Elisha?"

"Just because someone likes to play sports that doesn't make them dumb, Anastasia."

Anastasia and Cynthia laughed.

Elisha turned away, but she returned, when another voice entered the conversation.

"Hey, everyone," said the voice.

"Hey, Candance," said Cynthia.

"What's going on?" asked Candance Adams.

"Just teasing my big sister about being a 'valley girl' and having a crush on J.T."

"First off, Anastasia," began Elisha, "I am not a 'valley girl'. Secondly, I do not have a crush on J.T."

"Except for the fact that you smile every time that you see him."

"I smile at a lot of people."

Candance chuckled. "You know, Elisha, I think that my brother really likes you."

Elisha gasped. "Ian?!"

"No. Cody."

"Oh," said a dejected Elisha.

* * *

"Hey, Xavier!"

Xavier turned to see his cousin. "Hey, J.T."

"Want to try something crazy?"

"What's that?"

"Taking a picture of Austra."

Xavier sighed. He secured his cell phone, and took a picture of Austra. "There you go, J.T. A crazy idea, if I ever heard one."

"I didn't mean that, you moron."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I meant a 'real picture.'"

"And what exactly is a 'real picture'?"

J.T. grinned. "One of Austra in her thong."

Xavier was stunned, but then he sighed. "You're perfect for my cousin."

J.T. laughed. "Elisha? No, no. But come on now, man. I know that you think Austra has a nice ass. You said so the other day."

Xavier smirked.

"Unless you made all that up the other day. You're not gay, are you, Xavier?"

An intense look came over Xavier. "Fuck you; you dumb jock!" Xavier gritted his teeth. He wanted to express his feelings even louder, but he maintained his composure, due to the fact that his parents and grandparents were nearby.

J.T. laughed. "Oh, come on, I was just kidding."

Xavier sighed.

J.T. smiled. "But I have seen how you've been watching Austra a bit more."

"What are you two talking about?" asked an outside voice.

J.T. and Xavier turned. The voice belonged to Xavier's long haired younger brother, Saber. Saber wore a faded Deep Purple 'In Rock' shirt that appeared one size too big for him.

"Where did you get that?" asked Xavier, while he gestured to the shirt.

"I raided Dad's closet. Anyway, what're you two talking about?"

"I'm trying to get your brother to fulfill his wildest dream, and take a picture of Austra's ass," replied J.T.

"Hey, what's all this talk about my sister?" interjected another voice.

J.T., Xavier, and Saber turned. This voice belonged to Cody Adams, who wore an Iced Earth 'Burnt Offerings' shirt that had the image of Gustave Dore's Satan from Dante's 'Inferno'.

"Codeblast!" exclaimed Saber, while he displayed the headbanger gesture.

Cody smirked, and returned the gesture to Saber. Despite their age difference, Cody was very fond of his younger cousin. But once he finished with Saber, Cody returned his attention to J.T. and Xavier. "So as I said earlier, what's all this talk about my sister?"

"Oh, nothing," replied J.T.

"No, no, tell me."

"I'll tell you for a dollar," said Saber.

"Saber!" exclaimed J.T. and Xavier.

Cody removed a dollar from his wallet. "Sold!"

With the dollar in his hand, Saber whispered the information to Cody.

Cody nodded, and returned to J.T. and Xavier, but his focus was mostly on J.T. "So that's it, eh? You want Xavier to take a picture of my sister's ass?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," J.T. said.

Cody chuckled. "You don't need to lie, Pickles, and I'm not mad. But why are you asking your cousin to take the picture? Isn't your dad in film?"

"I still don't know what you're talking about," repeated J.T.

Cody shook his head. "You're a piss poor liar, J.T. Perhaps I should go, and tell my sister, who might confront you…Or maybe she'll tell my dad, and he'll confront you."

J.T. started to shake.

Cody grinned. "Or maybe we could just forget all of this, if you'll do something for me?"

"What's that?" asked J.T.

"Get me a hot picture of Elisha."

* * *

From a distance, Blaer Pickles heard the conversation between her brothers and cousins. "My brothers and cousins are so stupid!" she muttered.

Blaer decided to step outside the Java Lava. A number of thoughts were on Blaer's mind.

"Hey, Blaer!"

Blaer turned. The person who addressed her was her cousin, Krystal. Blaer smiled—she had a close bond to Krystal that she did not have with her first cousins, Elisha and Anastasia. The reason for their bond may have been that Blaer and Krystal were bound together by blood and not by law. "Hey, Krystal."

"What are you doing outside?"

"I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"A number of things—I sometimes like to go into the tree house over at Grandma and Grandpa's that Daddy told me he, Uncle Tommy, and the others built, when they were kids. But since I can't do that right now, this place will have to do."

Krystal nodded. "What's on your mind, Blaer?"

"Well, it's…"

* * *

Inside the Java Lava, another conversation took place—this one between Dil Pickles and Rachel DeVille.

"Blaer looks very much like her mother," said Rachel.

Dil turned. He observed Blaer from the outside window. "Yes, she does." Dil tossed his long red hair, which was beginning to reveal a few specks of gray. "I guess that I hadn't really thought about that, until you mentioned it."

"I know that you've got Lil and the boys, but do you ever mention Dezirae any to Blaer?"

Dil took a drink of his smoothie. "Sometimes. I show Blaer pictures of her; I've taken her to Dezirae's grave; she frequents her Pangborn grandparents; and I know that she's still attached to that toy that was once her mom's." Dil took another drink of his smoothie. "Yet, ever since Lil adopted her, when she was still real little, Lil has really been her mom. Of course, whenever Blaer gets mad at Lil, she'll inform Lil that she's 'not her mom', which upsets both Lil and I."

Rachel nodded. "That's just typical teenage behavior."

Dil returned the nod. "True." Dil finished the last of his smoothie and added, "You know, I have something associated with Dezirae that I've never shown Blaer. Perhaps it's about time that I do."

* * *

As Dil and Rachel continued their conversation, someone else was watching Blaer from inside the Java Lava. This was Kirk Finster, whose eyes were focused on the backside of Blaer's jean shorts. _"Damn!"_ thought Kirk. _"Blaer has such a nice ass! When the gods were thinking about sculpting such an ass, they must have had Blaer's ass in mind."_


	2. The Gift

**Author's Note**: Well, it looks as though all of you have survived the first chapter and have entered the second chapter. This chapter has a few 'past references'—including one of my short stories, _Holy Diver_. As always, I appreciate critical reviews.

**New Generation**

**Chapter II**

A week later, another graduation took place. This graduation was Blaer's eighth grade graduation from St. Agnes Catholic School, but it was on a much smaller scale. For Blaer, it was a moment of transition. Blaer could choose to remain in the Catholic school system, or she could enter the public school system, which was where her parents attended school, and which was where her maternal grandfather had been an administrator.

The day after the ceremony, Xavier, Saber, and Anastasia played on the fence between the Pickles and DeVille residences, while Blaer stood in the tree house at her paternal grandparents, and contemplated her choices. Blaer had one distinct fear. In Catholic school, there were a few students who were friendly to Blaer, but Blaer thought that they were 'too friendly'. Essentially, Blaer felt that these students were Dark Stairway fans, who simply wanted to use Blaer to meet her father. In other words, Blaer was their 'means to an end'. Public school had more students than Catholic school, and Blaer wondered, if she would be dealing with more students who would try to take advantage of her. As Blaer contemplated her dilemma, she reached for her cell phone. There was one person in Blaer's address book, who would certainly understand what she was feeling.

* * *

"Hello?" said Austra, as she answered her cell phone.

"Hey, Austra," replied Blaer.

"Hey, Blaer, what's going on?"

"Not a whole lot—well, there is one thing."

"What's that?"

"It's something that's been on my mind. Do you have some spare time, where I can meet you, and talk to you about it?"

"I don't have to work today so sure. Where would you like to meet at?"

"…Is the Java Lava all right?"

"Sure, sounds good. Meet me there in half an hour?"

"Okay, that will be fine."

"All right, see you then."

As Blaer's conversation with Austra ended, she heard someone climb up the steps of the tree house. That someone happened to be her cousin, Elisha. "Hi, Blaer."

"Hey, Elisha."

"Those boys and my sister are so annoying that I decided to come up here."

Blaer smirked. _"Perhaps the annoying one is you,"_ she thought. But verbally, Blaer said, "You didn't want to spend any time with your grandpa?"

"No, Grandpa Howie's boring. It seems like all he ever wants to do is watch The History Channel. Now Grandma Betty, she's a lot a fun."

Blaer maintained her smirk. _"I could probably agree with a lot of that,"_ she thought.

"Blaer," began Elisha, "what's cheerleading like? I'm thinking about trying out for it this fall."

_"Wouldn't you be the stereotypical cheerleader,"_ thought Blaer. "I can't tell you right now, since I have to go to the Java Lava. But you can come along with me, if you'd like, and I can tell you along the way?"

"Okay, cool!"

Before Blaer exited the tree house with Elisha, she looked at the zipline with the rotting rope. When Blaer was big enough to move around, her paternal grandmother asked her paternal grandfather to 'box up' the area where the zipline was, so Blaer would not be tempted to 'slide down on it'. Blaer chuckled.

"What is it, Blaer?"

"I was just trying to imagine something."

"What?"

"I was told that when this tree house was built, Daddy rode this zipline into where the pool is now."

"Yeah, I heard that too."

Blaer giggled. "I heard that he made Grandma Didi faint."

Elisha laughed. "Yeah, I heard that as well."

"It would have been fun to see."

"Did your uncle record it?"

Blaer shook her head. "No, but supposedly he did record Daddy jumping off Grandma and Grandpa's roof to the tune of Dio's 'Holy Diver'."

Elisha laughed. "Now that would be fun to see!"

Blaer smiled. "Maybe we can find it, after the trip to Java Lava—assuming that it's still around here."

"Yeah, sure…Blaer?"

"Yeah, Elisha?"

"There's something that I've often wondered."

"What's that?"

"Why do you call Grandma 'Aunt Betty' instead of 'Grandma'? I mean, she's your grandma too."

"I've always referred to your grandma as 'Aunt Betty', ever since I was a little girl, and your grandpa has just been more of a 'Uncle Howie' to me."

"You keep referring to my grandma and grandpa as 'your grandma and grandpa', but aren't they yours as well?"

Blaer sighed. "Not really…not by blood anyway."

"Huh?"

"You do realize that I was adopted into the DeVille family, when your aunt adopted me, when I was real little. Your aunt's not my real mother. Surely, your mom, if anybody, told you about this?"

Elisha nodded. "Yeah, she told me."

Blaer returned the nod, and the two left the tree house.

When the two returned to the ground, Elisha added, "You know, Blaer, my mom showed me a picture of your mom and her, when they were in high school."

"Could we not talk about my mom, Elisha?!"

Elisha was stunned. The 'brat' side of her ended, whenever she saw others legitimately hurt. "Sorry, Blaer."

Blaer sighed. "That's okay. I'm sorry that I snapped at you, Elisha. There are just times that I don't want to talk about my mom."

* * *

Dil secured some flowers from the passenger's side of his truck, and he exited the vehicle. Dil's surrounding showed signs of spring, and yet he was in a place that represented death.

_"It just seems so ironic,"_ thought Dil, as he took in his surroundings, _"that a place that represents death can take on the beauty of spring. And yet, the name of this place is called Resurrection Cemetery. The name 'resurrection' meaning 'rebirth', which symbolizes spring."_

Dil had not been to the cemetery in a while, but he knew where the gravestone in question was—_Dezirae Raia Pickles: October 26, 1991-November 16, 2015_.

"Hey, Dezirae," began Dil, while he placed the flowers in the vase next to the headstone. "I know that it has been a while, and I hope that you didn't that I've been forgetting about you. Last month, I was in Russia. I happened to play a show that was near the village where Grandma Minka and Grandpa Boris were from. I visited the village, and it was cool to see where Grandma and Grandpa grew up."

Dil smiled. "Of course, I'm sure that you are aware of all of this anyway—watching from the Silver Mountain on high…I'm also sure that you know what Rachel said about Blaer the other day. She's such a beauty, Dezirae. Rachel was telling me how much she looked like you. She certainly does." Dil smirked. "Now, I'm going to have to watch out for all the boys, who are going to come after her."

A cool gust of wind blew some of the seeds of a dandelion past Dezirae's grave.

Dil smiled. "She's getting ready for high school. Our little girl is all grown up, which made me think of something…During my trip, or dream, to the Silver Mountain, I remember that you talked to me about giving something to Blaer. I think that the time is right for me to now do so."

* * *

"Looks as though you have a guest," Austra said, when she saw Elisha arrive with Blaer.

Blaer smiled. "Yeah, Elisha wanted to come with me. Anyway, let's sit at the counter."

From the counter, Betty smiled. "Well, what can I get you girls? Will it be three strawberry smoothies?"

"Yes, Grandma!" said a brightened Elisha.

"That works for me," said Blaer.

"Yeah, same here," added Austra.

Betty maintained her smile, and turned to the Java Lava's storage room. "Hey, Kirk, can you help me out with making three strawberry smoothies?"

"Yeah, sure," replied Kirk.

But when Kirk left the storage room, and saw Blaer, he began to twitch. _"I gotta be cool,"_ he thought. _"I need to make a good impression."_

Kirk helped Betty with the smoothies, and when the product was finished, he delivered them to their recipients.

"Here you go, Austra," Kirk said, as he placed the drink before her.

Austra smiled. "Thank you, Kirk."

Kirk returned the smile, before he placed a smoothie before Elisha. "Here you go, Elisha."

Elisha returned the smile. "Thank you, Kirk."

Kirk returned the smile and turned to the last recipient. Kirk was doing his best not to twitch. "And here you go, B-Blaer."

"You stuttered there a bit, Kirkley," Betty said with a smile. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Kirk replied with a bashful smile.

Blaer smiled, which made Kirk blush.

_"Damn it!"_ thought Kirk. _"If I couldn't make myself look so obvious!"_

"So," began Austra, while she took a drink of her smoothie, "what did you want to talk about?"

Blaer took a drink of her smoothie and replied, "As you know, I completed the eighth grade this year, and I've been thinking about leaving Catholic school for public school. I was wondering, if you could tell me what public school is like?"

"Well, I could have told you that, Blaer," interjected Elisha.

"Yes, but there is a reason why I wanted to ask Austra."

Austra had another drink of her smoothie. "Well, I've never been to Catholic school, so I can only go by things that I've heard. One thing is that you don't have to wear a uniform."

"Why do they make you wear those uniforms?" interjected Elisha.

"I've always heard that it was so no one would be ostracized, because of their clothes."

"Heh, that's not a bad idea," interjected Betty, while she cleaned the counter top. "Not everybody can afford the 'best stuff'."

Austra took another drink. "Chances are you won't have any nuns as your teachers."

Blaer laughed. "I can live with that. Some of the sisters really got on my nerves!"

"You'll be treated like you're five," interjected Kirk, as he stocked a shelf beneath the counter.

Austra chuckled. "Well, yes, that's true—that's one of the worst things. Even when you're 18, some of the teachers will still treat you as though you are five."

"Well, so do some of the nuns, but there's a more important question in all of this."

"And what's that?"

Blaer took a drink and replied, "There were a few times in school, where I felt like someone was trying to be my friend, only because of who my dad was. It didn't happen often, because most of the people that I went to school with, I've known since kindergarten. But it did happen a few times. Did you ever experience anything like that?"

Austra took another drink. "A few times, but I can't say that it only happened to me. I'm sure that it happened to Ian, Cody, and Candance as well…Maybe J.T. and Krystal have had similar experiences as well, in respect to their father and uncle." Austra paused to take a drink. "Regardless of which, if I get the impression that someone is talking to me, simply because they want my dad's autograph, I inform that person that if he or she wants my dad's autograph, then he or she can go to my dad, and get it. I'm not my dad's 'middle man', and if it came back to wanting to meet my dad, I would tell that person that I am not my dad's 'personal secretary'."

"And that works?"

Austra finished the last of her smoothie and nodded. "Yes. It removed who I thought would take advantage of me, versus who I thought that I could trust."

Blaer returned the nod. "Well, I think that when I get home, I'm going to tell my dad and mom that I want to try public school." Blaer finished the last of her smoothie and added, "If it doesn't work out, if anything, I can always go back to Catholic school."

* * *

When Blaer returned home at 5:30 in the evening, she discovered that her mother was cooking dinner, while her father sat in a recliner and watched the news.

"So where have you been?" asked Lil.

"At the Java Lava," replied Blaer. "There was something that I wanted to talk about with Austra. Elisha came with me."

"Did you take care of whatever it was that you wanted to ask Austra?" asked Dil.

"Yes, I did, which is something that I want to talk to both of you about."

"All right," said Lil, while she stood next to Dil.

Dil placed the television on mute. "What is it, Blaer?"

Blaer nervously locked her fingers. "I've been thinking about this a lot—ever since my eighth grade graduation."

"What's that?" asked Lil.

"Well…I think that I'd like to try public school."

Lil was stunned. "Blaer, are you sure?"

Blaer nodded.

Dil look away briefly, before he returned to his daughter. "Well, I've always said that once the kids graduate eighth grade, they can decide, if they want to stay in Catholic school, or go to public school. Blaer, if that's what you want, we'll register you for the fall."

Blaer smiled. "Thanks, Daddy!"

Dil returned the smile, but then his eyes turned to the clock on the wall. "Looks like it's nearly supper time." Dil left his recliner, and turned to the stairs that led to the second floor. "Xavier! Saber! Get down here! Supper's nearly ready."

* * *

"Your mom's a good cook; isn't she, kids?" Dil said, before he had a bite of his cheeseburger.

Blaer and Xavier nodded.

Saber, however, smirked. "Say, Dad, aren't you partially Jewish?"

"Through your grandmother, yes."

Saber maintained his smirk. "Aren't Jews not supposed to eat cheeseburgers?"

Dil shot his youngest a look. "Ah, I see where this is going. Of course, you've seen your grandmother have a cheeseburger before, right?"

"Which one?"

Dil maintained his look. "Grandma Didi."

"Yes."

"Well, that just shows that your 'Jewish grandma' isn't so good with observing the dietary laws either." Dil chuckled. "Smart aleck aren't you, Saber-tooth?"

Saber grinned.

And Lil laughed. "He gets that from his father."

Again, Dil chuckled. "I'm sure. Anyway, I don't consider myself to be really Jewish. I'm more of a Christian, just not a good one."

"Dad," began Xavier, "I started working on a new story. Would you like to read it?"

"Sure, sometime after dinner."

"Hey, Dad," began Saber, "wanna play the new Rock Band game with me?"

Dil, who was busy eating, could not immediately respond to his son.

"Um, Saber," began Xavier, "did you just hear Dad say that he was going to read my story?"

"Oh, he can do that later. Besides, it's fun to watch Dad sing and never get a perfect score—especially on the Dark Stairway songs."

"Just for that," began Dil, "I'm going to spend my time reading Xavier's story. Besides, that's one of the things that's wrong with that game. When a professional singer, the man who helped write most of those songs, can't get a perfect score…something's wrong about that."

Lil, Blaer, Xavier, and Saber chuckled.

"Besides," continued Dil, "if someone really wants to learn the path of music, then he or she needs to pick up an instrument and learn music the proper way."

"Well, I'm done," Blaer said, as she stood from the table. "Thanks for dinner."

"Going somewhere?" asked Dil.

"I just thought that I'd walk around town for a bit."

"Don't you want to stay and play Rock Band, Blaer?" asked Saber. "It's fun to watch you sing."

Dil smirked. "Thank you, little brother. Maybe later."

"Blaer, I need to see you for a moment," Dil said, while he stood from the table.

"What for?"

Dil did not respond to Blaer's question directly. Instead, he replied, "Would you follow me upstairs?"

* * *

Blaer followed her father to the master bedroom, and as soon as they could make it not look obvious, her younger brothers followed from a distance. Whenever Dil or Lil asked to see Blaer, Xavier, or Saber alone that usually meant that child was in trouble.

"What is it, Daddy?"

Dil shut the bedroom door and smiled. "I have something to give you, Blaer."

"What is it?"

Dil maintained his smile. "You'll see. Have a seat on the bed."

Blaer did as her father requested, while Dil opened a drawer from his dresser.

"Here it is!" said Dil.

"What is?"

Dil turned to his daughter and smiled. "Blaer, the other day at Java Lava, Rachel told me how much you looked like your mother. I have to agree, which is why I want to give you something."

"What?"

Dil held up a ring, and placed it in his daughter's hand. "This."

"A ring?" Blaer said, while she observed it. "It looks to be a wedding ring."

Dil nodded. "About 15 years ago, your mom placed that ring on my finger. Even after she passed away, it was hard for me to take it off. When I finally did, I told myself that one day it would belong to you. That day is now."

Blaer's lower lip began to quiver, as she observed the ring. "Thank you, Daddy. Would you mind, if I wore it as a necklace?"

"Go right ahead."

Blaer embraced her father.

Dil smiled, and kissed his daughter's forehead. "I love you, Blaer. Lil means a lot to me, but no one will ever replace your mother. I know that she's watching over us right now, and I know that she's happy."

Blaer increased the embrace on her father.

* * *

"What are you hearing?" whispered Saber.

Xavier, who had his ear on his parents' bedroom door, whispered, "I'm not sure. It sounds like Blaer is crying, but I never heard Dad raise his voice. I don't get it."

Saber nodded. "I guess we shouldn't worry about it." But as he completed his sentence, Saber smirked. "Besides, I bet I can get the information out of Blaer at a later time."

"How so?"

Saber kept his smirk. "I have my ways…Anyway, you want to play Rock Band?"

"Well, I really want Dad to read my latest story."

"You can write a story about how you got a better score singing Dark Stairway songs on Rock Band, than the actual singer."

Xavier chuckled. "True…Okay, why not."

"Awesome!"


	3. The New School Year

**Author's Note**: For this chapter, we will see a little bit of one of my short stories. We will also see a moment of what many K-12 students hate—the first day of school.

**New Generation**

**Chapter III**

In late August, a beaming Kirk entered the Java Lava with his father.

From behind the counter, Betty seemed to pick up on Kirk's emotions. "Kirk's beaming. I take it that means 'good news'?"

Chuckie smiled. "Show her, Kirk."

Kirk maintained his smile, and removed his wallet from his back pocket. From his wallet, Kirk removed what looked to be a form of identification, and showed it to Betty.

Betty smiled. "Well, congratulations there, Kirkley. Looks like you've achieved another rite of passage—getting your driver's license."

Kirk returned the smile. "Thank you."

"Kirk followed my advice very well," said Chuckie. "I told him not to go one mile over the speed limit, to stop perfectly even with the stop signs, and that if he couldn't see to tell the person giving out the test that he needed to 'pull up a bit further'."

Betty nodded. "Yeah, they are real strict about the rules, when it comes to teenage drivers."

"It's too bad, however, that I don't have a car," said Kirk.

"Not yet, anyway," said Chuckie. "But you'll have one soon. You've been saving your money."

"True, I have about $8000."

"That'll get you a decent car," said Betty. "Too bad that after getting your license, you'll still have to ride the bus tomorrow."

"Not quite. Grandma said that I could drive her car tomorrow."

"Which grandma?"

"Grandma Kira."

"Ah! Well, Kira does like some fast cars, so you'll look great driving to school tomorrow…By the way, are you ready for school?"

Kirk smirked. "Not really."

Betty laughed. "Spoken like every other kid that I know! Well, at least this year will be different than last year. You're a sophomore, not a freshman."

Kirk chuckled. "That's true."

"Makes me wonder how Blaer's going to do tomorrow?" Betty added, while she wiped the counter.

_"Blaer?"_ thought Kirk.

"That's right!" replied Chuckie. "She's going to start public school tomorrow."

"As a freshman, no less."

"Makes me wonder how she's preparing?"

"Hard to say, I know that she'll be at Stu and Didi's this evening for that video."

Chuckie laughed. "Yeah, it was a blast from the past. Phil, Lil, Kimi, Angelica, and I watched it earlier with Tommy."

"Are you going to see it this evening, Kirk?"

Kirk's mind seemed to be somewhere else. He did not respond to Betty's question.

"Kirk?" repeated Betty.

"Oh, sorry!" replied Kirk, when his mind returned to reality.

"Are you going to be at Stu and Didi's this evening?"

"Yeah! I'm curious to see this video."

* * *

A six o'clock that evening, a large group of teenagers and pre-teenagers gathered at the home of Stu and Didi Pickles. Among those present were: Blaer, Xavier, and Saber Pickles; J.T. and Krystal Pickles; Elisha and Anastasia DeVille; Cody and Candance Adams; and Kirk and Cynthia Finster. Of those present, Kirk was asked a number of questions, when he drove his little sister without his parents or grandparents present. That is when everybody learned that he received his driver's license. Yet despite Kirk being the 'man of the hour', some other conversations took place.

* * *

"Hey, J.T.!" said Elisha, who wore a Los Angeles Lakers jersey.

"Hey, Elisha, like the jersey," said J.T., who also wore a Lakers jersey.

Elisha blushed. "Thanks. Do you get out too many Lakers's games?"

"Sometimes when Dad's out in L.A., we'll go with him, and he'll take us to a Lakers game."

"Cool!"

"Hey, Elisha, J.T.," interjected Cody, who wore a Grave Digger 'Return of the Reaper' shirt.

"Hey, Cody," said J.T.

"Hey, Cody," Elisha said with a sigh.

Cody smirked. "You don't sound like too you're happy to see me?"

_"You interrupted my moment with J.T.!"_ thought Elisha. But verbally, she said, "Well…"

"Codeblast!" interjected Saber. "Love that shirt!"

Cody grinned. Saber wore a Grave Digger 'Clash of the Gods' shirt. "Thanks, where did you get that shirt at?"

"Dad had it in his closet."

"Don't you guys ever get anything new?" asked Elisha.

Saber smirked. "Well, it depends. The good metal that comes out? Absolutely! As for the 'god-awful poppy music'? Absolutely not! By the way, Elisha, isn't that a jersey that Uncle Phil wore?"

"No! My mom in fact had this…" Elisha gasped.

And Saber grinned. "And you've just been 'punked', big cousin."

Elisha glared at her younger cousin and turned away.

Saber, Cody, and J.T. chuckled.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Elisha," said J.T.

"Hmph!" said Elisha.

Once again, Saber, Cody, and J.T. chuckled.

"Seriously though," began J.T., "does anyone know what this is about? Why we're over here at Grandma and Grandpa's? Dad wouldn't say."

"I think it has something to do with Uncle Dil," replied Elisha, who returned to the conversation.

"Something to do with Dad? Really?"

Elisha nodded. "Blaer told me that supposedly there's a video tape of Uncle Dil jumping off of your grandparents' roof."

"Whoa! Really?"

Once again, Elisha nodded.

"Now that would be interesting to see," said Cody.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," added J.T.

* * *

In another corner of his grandparents' residence, Xavier Pickles played a game on his iPhone.

"Hey, Xavier," said a voice.

Xavier turned the voice. The voice belonged to Cynthia Finster, who smiled at Xavier shyly. Xavier returned the smile. "Hi, Cynthia."

"What are you doing?"

"Just playing solitaire. It's a fun game to play, when you're bored, and need to kill time."

Cynthia nodded. "What do you think this is all about?"

Xavier ceased playing his game and replied, "I don't know exactly. From what I understand, Blaer arranged it."

"She didn't tell you what it was about?"

Xavier shook his head. "No. Of course, it's not like Blaer always tells us very much anyway…at least not much anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems like, whenever Blaer started the seventh grade, she would distance herself from me and Saber."

"Does that bother you?"

"It did at first, but now, not so much."

Cynthia nodded. "I would say that I have a distant relationship with my brother as well."

"Maybe it's just the difference in our ages?"

"Maybe."

* * *

"Everyone," began Tommy, "please come into the living room."

Those present entered the master room, and found respectable places where they could sit or stand.

"Well, everyone," Tommy began again, "we're taking a trip back in time. We're going back to the year 2006, and you can thank Blaer for it."

Blaer smiled.

"She wanted to see something that involved her dad, when he was 15. It took me a while to find it. I had to really look hard through my archives to find it, and when I did, I had to transfer it over from a VHS to a DVD. A few of us 'old folks' watched it earlier today, and we laughed. Dil, of course, was not among us, since he's at some show at Donnington, England. But I told him about it, and he laughed. He wanted to say that he hoped that 'Mom was okay'."

Stu chuckled.

Didi merely smirked.

Tommy grinned. "I do have to say that even though my brother is 39 and holding, I don't think that he's changed much, since he was 15."

Stu, Didi, Blaer, Xavier, Saber, and Cody laughed.

Tommy smirked. "Anyway, here's the 'famous clip'."

Tommy pushed the play button on the DVD player, and those present saw a video that Tommy had recorded after his sophomore year of high school. The scene took place in the backyard of the Pickles residence. A few things had changed in the Pickles backyard, since the video was filmed 23 years ago, but the teenagers and pre-teenagers present could recognize the location, and they laughed, when they saw their parents at nearly their age. Eventually, the moment came, when DIO's 'Holy Diver' began to play in the background, and Dil leapt from his parents' roof, ricocheted off a mattress, and the mattress and Dil landed in the family swimming pool.

"And that nearly scared me half to death," said Didi.

"It did. You fainted," added Stu.

"You would have fainted too, if you would have watched Dil leap from the roof."

"I didn't, when he rode that zipline into the unfinished pool, which I did see."

Tommy laughed. "I can remember Phil telling Dil from the top of the roof that he might be in trouble."

"That was wicked awesome!" said Saber, while he made the headbanger gesture.

"No, Saber, it wasn't!" interjected Didi. "Your father could have been killed doing what he did. And if that would have happened, you wouldn't be here right now."

"That's true," said Tommy. "Dil mistimed his jump. If his mattress had not been there, he would have certainly hit the concrete. If that would have happened, he could have survived, but there's a good chance that he would have been paralyzed."

"In other words, don't be like Dad," added Xavier, who gasped, when he saw his father leap off his grandparents' roof. Xavier had a fear of heights.

Didi smiled. "You're a little bit smarter, than your father was on that day, Xavier."

Saber sighed. "You guys are boring."

"No, Saber!" snapped Didi. "It's called being intelligent versus being stupid!"

"Well, kids," began Stu, who sensed his wife's anger, "I think it's time that all of you headed home. You've got school tomorrow."

"Yeah, wonderful," muttered Elisha.

Stu chuckled, but the teenagers and pre-teenagers shared Elisha's sentiment.

* * *

Elisha and Anastasia went next door to their grandparents' residence, since their grandmother agreed to give them a ride home. Cody and Candance waited for their mother to pick them up. Cynthia was to ride home with her brother. And Blaer, Xavier, and Saber were to be driven home by their uncle, Tommy, who would also take home his own two children.

"All right, everyone," Tommy began outside his childhood home and next to his car, "it's going to be a bit of a squeeze, the six of us, but we can make it work. Blaer, one of your brothers might have to sit on your lap."

"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Blaer, Xavier, and Saber.

Tommy laughed. "Don't worry; it will only be for a short time. We're not too far from your house."

From his father's car, Kirk overheard the conversation between Tommy, Blaer, Xavier, and Saber. "Say, Tommy?"

Tommy turned and grinned. "Say, Kirk?"

Kirk blushed. "I happened to overhear your conversation. To make your situation easier, I can give someone a ride."

"I'm taking it!" exclaimed Blaer. "I don't want one of my brothers' sitting on my lap."

"Can't argue with that," said Xavier.

"Same here," added Saber.

Tommy chuckled. "Well, all right. Be safe, Kirk."

"Will do!"

* * *

The Finster house appeared first on the drive home, so Kirk dropped off his little sister, before he and Blaer continued to the Pickles residence.

"Are you nervous?" asked Kirk.

"About what?" replied Blaer.

"About attending a new school."

Blaer smirked. "I would have been going to a new school, if I had chosen to remain in the Catholic school system."

"I guess that's true."

"But yeah…I am a little scared."

Kirk smiled. "I would be too…I was nervous my first day as a freshman, but I survived it."

Blaer returned the smile. "Yeah, I will too."

As Blaer finished her sentence, Kirk arrived at the Pickles residence. "Well, it looks as though I made it home safely. Thanks, Kirk." Blaer started to open the passenger's side door, but Kirk stopped her.

"Um, Blaer?"

"Yeah, Kirk?"

"I was wondering, uh, if…"

"Are you trying to ask me out on a date, Kirk?"

Kirk blushed. "No, no. I wanted to know, if you might like a ride to school tomorrow?"

Blaer smiled.

"We'll have to drop Cynthia off at her school first, but since we're going to the same location, I thought…"

"Sure, Kirk."

Kirk was stunned, but he did his best not to show it. "Cool! I'll be by here with my sister at 7:30 in the morning."

"All right, sounds good, Kirk."

Kirk smiled. "All right, see you then!"

As Kirk pulled away from the Pickles residence, he beamed, and his heart 'skipped a beat'.

Blaer, however, watched Kirk leave from her family's front porch. "Such a shy guy he is," Blaer said with a smile.

* * *

At seven in the morning the next day, Xavier and Saber Pickles dressed themselves in their school uniforms. Neither Xavier nor Saber was ready for the day.

Xavier yawned. "I hate the first day of school."

"Same here," Saber added, also with a yawn. "I'm sure that I'm going to hear something from Father John or Sister Frances about how I didn't get a haircut over the summer."

Xavier chuckled. "Makes me wonder, if they've ever seen Dad?"

"No doubt."

"Blaer! Xavier! Saber! Time for breakfast!" Lil called from the bottom of the stairs.

* * *

Xavier and Saber arrived in the kitchen first, and prepared themselves a bowl of cereal. Eventually, Blaer followed them, but when their sister arrived, Xavier and Saber were stunned. Blaer was wearing cut off jean shorts, sandals, and a Dark Stairway shirt.

Blaer seemed to 'pick up' on the shock of her brothers. "Something wrong with you two?"

"The way you're dressed," responded Xavier.

"They'll let you go to school like that?" added Saber.

Neither Xavier nor Saber had ever known their sister to wear anything to school but a uniform. Blaer smiled. "Well, yeah. Haven't you ever watched some of the high school shows on Nickelodeon? People dress like this all the time."

Lil chuckled. "Your father used to dress like that a lot, when we were in high school."

"Really?" said Xavier.

"If that's the case, then I want to go to public school too," added Saber. "I hate these stupid uniforms."

"Not until you're done with the eighth grade," said Lil. "Besides, wearing a uniform lets you know that you're no different than anybody else."

"Uh, Mom, he is different than everybody else," said Xavier.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Saber.

Lil smiled. "You're a unique boy, Saber, and that's what makes you special. Just how your father is a unique person, and that is what makes him special. But in terms of your school clothing, you are not different than anybody else and neither is Xavier."

Shortly after Lil completed her statement, the doorbell rang. Lil opened the door to reveal Kirk and Cynthia. "Hi, Kirk. Hi, Cynthia."

"Hi, Lil," the Finsters said unanimously.

"We're here to get Blaer," added Kirk. "Is she ready?"

Lil turned. "Blaer, are you ready?"

Blaer finished her granola bar and replied, "In a minute, I just need to clean my teeth."

* * *

After Kirk dropped off Cynthia at Missouri Junior High, he and Blaer continued on to Missouri High School.

"You know, I think that my sister likes your little brother," said Kirk.

Blaer smirked. "By 'little brother', I am going to assume that you mean Xavier and not Saber?"

Kirk chuckled. "Yes, I do. While I was waiting on you, Cynthia was talking to Xavier, and Saber as well, about their uniforms. I could tell that she was trying to flirt with him."

Blaer smiled. "She is a little bit shy."

Kirk returned the smile. "That she is."

"…You know, I always hated those things."

"What?"

"Uniforms. I couldn't stand them."

"Well, you don't have to wear them anymore, and you look nice, by the way."

Blaer smiled. "Thanks."

Kirk returned the smile, before he added, "So what's your first class?"

Blaer looked at her schedule. "Music Appreciation."

"My guess is that you've got Medlin for that?"

Blaer re-checked her schedule. "Yeah."

"Should be interesting."

"What about you?"

"I'll tell you in just a minute."

As Kirk completed his statement, he turned into the parking lot for Missouri High School. Within a few minutes, Kirk secured a parking spot. "Thank God! Sometimes parking can be a bitch here. Now, as for your question…" Kirk grabbed his backpack, and secured his class schedule. "Let's see…looks like I have Biology for first period…God, I'm going to hate that."

"Why?"

"Because I hate Science."

Blaer laughed. "Me too."

Kirk returned the laugh. "Well, should we go?"

Blaer nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. Let's get this over with."

The two exited Kira's car, and entered Missouri High School. Blaer took a moment to observe her surroundings. The place was certainly much bigger than St. Agnes School, and it was odd for Blaer to actually observe students in 'regular clothes', rather than uniforms. Blaer wondered, if she would encounter any of the students that attended Catholic school with her. Blaer did not notice any, but what she did notice was that many of the students stopped playing on their smart phones and observed Kirk. Her new peers appeared stunned for some reason.

"Would you like me to show you where your first class is?" asked Kirk.

"Sure."

Blaer handed Kirk her class schedule, and Kirk directed Blaer to the location of her first class.

"Well, I guess that I'd better go," said Kirk. "I'll probably see you around lunch. Have fun learning about your dad," Kirk added with a smirk.

Blaer returned the smirk. "Have fun dissecting frogs."

Kirk chuckled, before he went to his Biology class.

After Kirk left, Blaer sighed. She was nervous, but she took an empty seat on the front row. Eventually, more students entered the classroom. Blaer hoped that she would notice someone from St. Agnes or from her neighborhood. She did not. Once again, Blaer sighed.

"Hey!" said an outside voice. "Cool shirt! That is a classic!"


	4. Something in Common

**Author's Note**: Greetings, everyone! This chapter is probably going to be my shortest in the story, but it does set the tone for some future events to come. As always, please feel free to give some critical reviews.

**New Generation**

**Chapter IV**

Blaer turned to the voice. It belonged to a petite girl with red hair, freckles, and a small nose piercing. The girl wore an Order of the Fly shirt and shorts. She looked to be about Blaer's age. Blaer smiled. "Thanks. The shirt was in my dad's closet for a while, and I just decided to wear it."

The young woman returned the smile. "That shirt's from their first album. It's a classic. I grew up listening to a lot of Dark Stairway's music. My dad saw them before they became really big."

"Really?"

The young woman nodded. "Yep, he said that he was at The Highland, and that Dil Pickles indirectly addressed him."

"Really? How did that happen?"

"Dad was dating this girl at the time—well, they had basically broken up—but she was at the bar, drunk and harassing him. Eventually, security removed her, but Dil saw all this, and played off on it."

"What did he say?"

"Um, I'm not exactly sure. Something about the girl showing off her thong, and how it's no longer working. Or something like that."

Blaer laughed. "I can just see Da, er, Dil saying something like that."

"I don't remember seeing you in junior high. Although, you could be a lot older than me."

Blaer shook her head. "No, I'm a freshman. I just transferred from the Catholic school system."

"Got sick of the nuns?"

Blaer laughed. "Yeah, something like that."

"Anyway, I'm Bobbi," the young woman said with a smile.

Blaer returned the smile and said, "Hi, Bobbi. I'm Blaer."

Bobbi maintained her smile. "That's kind of an unusual name."

Blaer chuckled. "Well, my dad's an usual person. It was him, apparently, who named me. The name means 'light breeze' in Icelandic. But it's cool, in a way."

Once again, Bobbi kept her smile. "Yeah, it is."

"You know, I saw the band on the shirt that you're wearing."

"Really?!"

Blaer nodded.

"When?"

"Long ago with my dad."

"Your dad must be a fan of Death Metal."

Blaer chuckled. "Not exactly."

"Then how did you end up seeing Order of the Fly?"

"Well…"

Before Blaer could answer Bobbi's question, the school bell rang, and the teacher entered the classroom.

"Good morning, everyone!" began the teacher. "I'm Mr. Medlin, and welcome to Music Appreciation!"

Some of the students did not share the instructor's enthusiasm, but some of the students did appear interested.

"Well, before I go over the syllabus and some of the basics of the class, let me take roll."

The instructor opened his grade book and began reading off the names on the class roster.

"Bobbi Kendell?" said the instructor.

"Here," Bobbi responded, as she raised her hand.

"Blaer Pickles?" continued the instructor.

"Here," responded Blaer, while she raised her hand.

Blaer's surname did 'raise a few eyebrows' from some of her classmates, but none of them appeared to be 'very shocked'. Other Pickles had roamed the hallways of Missouri High School in recent years. Ian Pickles being one of them. Bobbi, however, did wonder about Blaer's surname.

* * *

Nearly fifty minutes later, the school bell rang to signal the end of first period. Like their classmates, Blaer and Bobbi gathered their school supplies and prepared to go to their second class.

"Pretty interesting," began Bobbi. "You having the last name 'Pickles'."

"Why would that be interesting?"

"The fact that you're wearing a Dark Stairway shirt, and the fact that the lead singer of Dark Stairway has the same last name as you."

Blaer smirked.

"Just curious, are you related?"

Blaer chuckled.

"Well, are you?"

"Yes."

"Is he like a distant cousin or something?"

"No, he's my dad."

Bobbi was stunned. "Oh, wow!"

"Bobbi," began Blaer, who wanted to change the subject, "do you know much about cheerleading at this school?"

"No, why?"

"I'd like to try out for the squad. I was a cheerleader at my former school."

Bobbi laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"It just seems odd that Dil Pickles's daughter would be a cheerleader."

"Well, I'm my own person. I'm not my dad. I don't even like some of my dad's music."

Bobbi gasped. "Really?!"

"Yes, really!" snapped Blaer.

"Sorry, Blaer, I didn't mean to offend you."

Blaer sighed. "That's okay. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just don't like it, when someone assumes that because of what my dad is, I should be like him. We're all different people."

Bobbi nodded. "I understand."

Blaer smiled. "I did listen to a lot of Daddy's music growing up, but I also heard a lot of Mom's."

"What does she like?"

"She likes some hip hop and some rock." Blaer grinned. "We always had to hide it from Daddy, though."

Bobbi grimaced. "Can't say that I like your mom's hip hop. Doom and Death Metal is what I enjoy."

"I can see that with the shirt," Blaer said with a gesture.

Bobbi laughed. "I have respect for your dad's music, but as I got older, I really started to get into Doom and Death Metal."

"How come?"

"Well…I guess it was just my way of 'lashing out,' you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well…I'm different from everybody else. I'm not a 'valley girl', and I'm not a person that's good at sports. I guess you could say that I'm 'socially awkward'. Death Metal, especially Death Metal, just seems to be my way of lashing out at a world that I think needs to change."

"Isn't all metal like that?"

"Well, yeah, but Death Metal seems to be the most extreme. It's basically my way, you could say, of screaming at the injustices in the world without actually harming someone."

Despite the fact that Blaer had grown up around Heavy Metal since her birth, she did not quite understand what Bobbi meant. Still, Blaer smiled. "That's cool."

Bobbi returned the smile. "Yeah, yeah it is. By the way, if you go to the office, they ought to be able to tell you something about the cheerleading thing."

"Okay, thanks."

"Oh! I know that we need to get to class and all, but you never did tell me how you ended up seeing Order of the Fly."

"Well…"


	5. Teenage Rebellion

**Author's Note**: Greetings, everyone! Originally, I intended to have a number of different scenes in this chapter, but when I thought about it more, it would make the chapter too long. Therefore, I decided to divide up these scenes into different chapters. In this particular chapter, you are going to see a little bit of Dil's temper—which obviously appeared in previous stories—and a little bit of his daughter's temper. I would also like to point out that if you are a fan of Death Metal, you might not like what Dil has to say about the genre. With that being said, please continue to read and give critical reviews.

**New Generation**

**Chapter V**

The date was the third Thursday of November 2029, and Tommy Pickles was at the home of his younger brother, Dylan. Dark Stairway was approaching their second decade in music, and Tommy thought that he could gain some success with the Heavy Metal community by making a documentary about Dark Stairway—particularly some close scenes with his brother.

This particular Thursday was an unusual one at Dil's residence. Blaer was home early from school, due to Parent-Teacher Conferences at her school. Lil was stopping by Blaer's school to speak with her teachers, and to later pick up her sons, Xavier and Saber, from their school.

"I'm almost surprised that you didn't go with Lil," Tommy said, while he sat his laptop on Dil's dining room table. "It's not like we could have done this tomorrow."

"Not exactly," said Dil. "I have to be in the studio tomorrow, so today was the best day that I had. Plus, Lil didn't want to go over to the school later this evening."

Tommy nodded. "When this album is complete, how many studio albums has it been for Dark Stairway?"

"…12."

"Impressive."

Dil nodded. "Since we were talking about Parent-Teacher Conferences earlier, what about you? What about J.T. and Krystal?"

"Kimi and I are going later. Chaz and Kira are going to fix dinner for them this evening."

Dil smirked. "What do you think about them?"

"Chaz and Kira?"

Dil laughed. "No, I mean the Parent-Teacher Conferences?"

Tommy chuckled. "Oh, that! Yeah, they're fine. Besides, I want to know how my kids are doing in school."

Dil grinned. "I went to Xavier's and Saber's Parent-Teacher Conferences with Lil."

"How was that?"

Dil maintained his grin. "The teachers told me that Xavier was a good student, and that Saber was a 'wild child'."

Tommy laughed.

And Dil smiled. "Anyway, what do you have to show me?"

"This," replied Tommy, while he put a DVD in his laptop. "I converted what's on here from VHS for Mom and Dad."

Dil nodded.

And Tommy pushed the play button.

The DVD contained film of Tommy and Dil, when they were little. Dil smirked. "What's with this?"

"Well, you're my little brother. This documentary involves you, and certainly me talking about you. I thought that it would be cool to show film of us interacting as children."

"You're not going to show film of me running around in a diaper, are you?"

Tommy grinned. "You never know."

"It doesn't do much to advance my 'Heavy Metal image', you know?"

"You're female fans might find it interesting. They might talk about how 'cute' you were."

Dil chuckled. "I just remembered something."

"What?"

"Do you remember that film that you made of us as kids, and it had me chasing our dog, Spike, around in my diaper?"

Tommy laughed. "Yeah, that was my movie _A Day Before the Day of the Life of My Friends_. I entered it in that school competition. I didn't win, but I got to have my picture taken with Martin Costomiris, who I would later intern under."

Dil nodded. "And in the end of that film, my diaper falls off, and everybody gets to see my ass."

Again, Tommy laughed.

Dil smirked. "At least they saw my ass and not my dick."

Tommy chuckled. "Oh, some of the stuff that Mom and Dad recorded."

Dil gave his brother a look. "What do you mean?"

Again, Tommy chuckled. "Well, I saw some film of baby Dil without his diaper, but some of the footage doesn't show his backside."

Dil glared. "Don't you dare think of using it!"

Tommy laughed. "Don't worry, I won't."

The Pickles brothers returned to the footage of their childhood, but as they watched their memories, they were interrupted. The interruption came in the form of some loud music upstairs. The music was in the style that Dil would play, and yet, it was different.

Tommy turned to Dil, and noticed that his younger brother did not appear fond of the music.

"Would you excuse me for a minute, Tommy?"

* * *

The lavender paint on the walls of Blaer Pickles's bedroom was in conflict to the music that played on her CD player. Yet, when Blaer sang along with the music, the music became 'melodic', rather than the 'Death Metal' sound from the original vocalist. Blaer, who wore jeans and a Novembers Doom shirt with the artwork from their album _The Novella Reservoir_, laughed.

"Blaer!" exclaimed Dil, as he opened the door. "Could you please turn that shit down? I'm trying to have a conversation with your uncle."

"Yes, Daddy," Blaer replied with a smirk.

But as Dil left Blaer's bedroom, Blaer turned the dial for the volume forward instead of backward.

Dil quickly returned to his daughter's bedroom with a glare.

"Sorry, Daddy," Blaer said innocently, while she turned the volume down. "I accidentally turned it forward instead of backward."

Dil continued to glare. "I bet," he said, as he left his daughter's bedroom for the second time.

Blaer giggled. "Chuck Schuldiner's just as important as Dio."

Dil heard the statement, while he descended the stairs. He wanted to reveal his true thoughts over that statement, but instead he gritted his teeth.

* * *

"Got the problem taken care of?" Tommy asked, when his brother re-entered his dining room.

Dil nodded, and he did his best to hide his anger. "Get ready—in a few months J.T. will be a teenager."

Tommy laughed. "They grow up quickly, don't they?"

Again, Dil nodded. "Indeed."

"It seems kind of odd with Blaer. Last year, she was cheerleading, and now she's listening to the kind of music that you do. I guess the 'apple really doesn't fall far from the tree'."

"That's not the kind of stuff that I do, Tommy."

Tommy chuckled. "What? It's not Heavy Metal?"

Dil sighed, and opened his refrigerator. He secured a Bud Light, and turned to Tommy. "Want one?"

"Yeah, sure."

Dil handed a Bud Light to Tommy, opened his, took a drink, and sat in a dining chair. "It's Heavy Metal all right, but it's a poor genre of it."

"Huh?" Tommy asked, before he took a drink, and sat in a chair next to his brother. "What do you mean?"

Dil took another drink. "It's called 'Death Metal'. The music, in of itself, is fine, but the singing destroys anything that could be potentially good out of it."

"What do you mean?"

"All the singing is this growling 'whroo, whroo, whroo.' It takes no talent, whatsoever, to do that, and all it does is destroy a potentially good song."

Dil took another drink. "I'll give you an example. Children of Bodom, this Scandinavian Death Metal band, covered the Scorpions' 'Don't Stop at the Top', and they destroyed it. Klaus Meine, or the Scorpions' management, should sent a 'cease and desist' letter to whomever manages that god-awful band."

Tommy took a drink. "Well, as long as the royalty checks kept coming in, who would have cared about the 'cease and desist' letter?"

"There are more important things in this world than money, T. Pope Francis had it right. Money is our new 'golden calf'." Dil snapped his fingers. "I just thought of a couple of great ideas for a song."

"What?"

"Based on what I said a minute ago. I've got a couple of good ideas. Here are the titles: 'Our Golden Idol' and 'Judas's Blood Money'."

Tommy smiled. "Interesting titles—you know, if Blaer keeps up this Heavy Metal thing, she might be coming up with stuff like that in the future."

Dil rapped his fingers. "Then I hope it's Power Metal—or at least Doom Metal. I've heard Blaer listening to some of that, and I like some of that music."

Tommy chuckled. "What about Xavier and Saber?"

"What about them?"

"What do they listen to?"

"Saber is a miniature version of me—minus that his hair and eyes are from his mother. As for Xavier, he plays a lot of the same music that I would play, but the difference between him and his younger brother is that I don't think Xavier inherited my musical talent. His brother, I think, did; but Xavier seemed to inherit a talent to write stories, just not music."

Tommy nodded. "I see. Well, maybe I can turn my nephew's stories into movies?

Dil smiled. "That would be nice. I bet that Xavier would appreciate that." Dil took another drink and added, "By the way, since we're on the subject of music, what do J.T. and Krystal listen to?"

"Not to anything that you would approve of, Dil," Tommy replied with a grin.

Dil laughed.

Tommy took another drink. "So I guess Blaer's kind of the 'black sheep of the family'?"

Dil finished his beer and replied, "I guess, if you want to look at it that way, for the moment she is."

Tommy finished his beer and smiled. "You really don't like this Death Metal stuff, do you?"

Dil glared, and slammed his fist on the table, which resulted in his empty beer bottle falling over. "Hell no, I don't!"

Tommy's eyes grew wide.

Dil secured his and Tommy's empty beer bottles, and threw them away. But when Dil returned to his brother, Tommy could see that Dil was still in a foul mood.

"As I was leaving Blaer's bedroom, she said to me that Chuck Schuldiner was just as important as Dio. What bullshit!"

"Who's that?"

"Chuck Schuldiner is considered the 'Father of Death Metal'. To say that he is as important as Dio is an absolute joke! Dio could sing; that fucker couldn't sing his way out of a wet paper bag!"

Tommy was stunned, but then he started laughing.

"What's so damn funny?!"

Through his laughter, Tommy replied, "Oh, just what you said. You couldn't help but make me think of someone."

"Who?"

"Our dad."

"…If that's the case, then I really am getting old."

* * *

Shortly after three o'clock in the afternoon, Lil returned home with her sons, Xavier and Saber. The brothers charged to their rooms and quickly removed their school uniforms. In the master room, Lil talked with Dil about the feedback that she received from Blaer's teachers.

"So that's pretty it, eh?" said Dil.

Lil nodded. "Pretty much."

"Well, then I think that we need to have a talk with Blaer."

Dil turned to the stairs. "Blaer!"

Blaer opened her bedroom door. "Yes?"

"Would you come down here a minute please?"

Blaer descended the stairs. "What is it?"

"Your mom has something to tell you." Dil turned to Lil. "Will you tell her what you told me?"

Lil nodded. "Blaer, I just got back from having a conference with your teachers."

"And?"

"Well, with the exception of your Music Appreciation teacher, your other teachers basically said that you're lazy."

"Lazy?!"

Lil nodded. "Academically lazy."

"Academically lazy?! What the hell does that even mean?"

"It means that you're not carrying about the subjects."

"Well, maybe the subjects are boring. Maybe the subjects suck."

"Yes, maybe the subjects are both those things," interjected Dil. "But the fact is that you're in those classes. Therefore, you have to put your full effort into those classes."

"If I'm not putting my 'full effort into those classes', then why are my grades so high?"

"I talked with your teachers about that," responded Lil. "They told me that while your test scores are good, you just don't seem to care about the subjects. They implied that it seems as though you would rather listen to music on your iPhone, instead of being in class. I could understand that feeling with maybe a subject here and there, but all of them?"

"Well, most of the stuff that I'm hearing in those classes, I learned last year in Catholic school, so, yeah, I'd rather listen to 'headbanging music', than listen to stuff that I heard last year."

Lil turned to Dil, and Dil turned to Lil.

"Well," began Lil, "perhaps it would be for the best, if we took you out of public school, and put you back into Catholic school."

"What?!" exclaimed Blaer.

"I agree," said Dil.

"What?! Daddy?!"

"I think that's a good idea," added Dil.

"Just a minute—hold on a second here!" exclaimed Blaer. "You told me after I finished the eighth grade in May that I could choose to go to Catholic school or public school, if I wanted to."

"Well, yes," began Dil, "but that is before we learned that you're not being challenged in your education. When school begins next year, you'll be going to Sacred Heart."

"This is ridiculous!" Blaer said, as she leapt from the floor. "The only reason you're doing this is because you're pissed off at the kind of music that I listen to. I bet that if I was blaring Iron Maiden or Dio, like Xavier or Saber, you would be blaming the school and not me."

"I'm not blaming you; I am blaming the school. And both Xavier and Saber go to Catholic school."

"They're also in the seventh and fifth grades!"

"Blaer," began Lil, "to say that your father wants to remove you from public school, because of a kind of music that you listen to, is ridiculous."

"Oh, shut up!"

"Hey!" began Dil. "Don't you talk to your mother that way."

"Oh, shut up! You know that's not my fucking mother anyway!"

A pin drop could be heard in the Pickles residence after Blaer's words. From the top of the stairs, Xavier and Saber, who were listening in, were stunned. In the master room, Lil gasped; and Dil's eyes grew wide.

"My mother's dead," continued Blaer, while she looked at her father, "and you know it."

Dil said nothing.

"I'm just the outsider in this relationship," added Blaer. "Xavier and Saber are your 'true children'. I'm just someone, who ended up coming along with Daddy."

Dil turned to the floor. A part of him wanted to cry, but the tears would not flow.

"Blaer," began a stunned Lil, "that's just not so. Ever since you were a little girl, I've loved you…"

"I don't want to hear it!"

Blaer grabbed her coat, slammed the front door, and left her childhood home.

Lil started to follow her, but Dil intervened.

"No," said Dil. "Let her go. Let her blow off a little steam."


End file.
